ICE-COLD: Temps tipped to plummet

TEMPERATURES across regional Queensland are set to plummet this weekend as the state sets up to cop its first blast of winter cold.

An intense low pressure system is presently passing over Tasmania and by the weekend it will be spinning away off the southern New South Wales coastline.

In its trail the system will bring a flow of icy south-westerly winds which will pull cold air up from southern areas.

The centre of the system is expected to cross Tasmania today before moving out into the Tasman Sea throughout the weekend.

"It's a fairly complex system of lows with the feature of the cold front reaching all the way up to Queensland," Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Lachlan Stoney said.

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"It's really the first bit of winter weather and we're looking at the first possibility of frosts for the season in areas of inland Queensland."

Mr Stoney said eastern parts of the Darling Downs district through to the low lying areas of the Carnarvon including Injune and Roma could expect frosts.

Meanwhile elevated areas like Toowoomba were less likely to get an autumn icing because winds are likely to be quite strong overnight in the coldest part of snap and that tends to counteract any frosts developing.

Across the state temperatures are expected to be well below the average maximum and minimum for the month of May - on at least one, if not two - days of the forecast period.

Then working our way up from the Queensland border Warwick can expect to experience its lowest temperatures on Saturday and Monday

In Toowoomba the average minimum temperature for May is 10 degrees and 19.9 is the average maximum.

Saturday looks set to be the chilliest day of the forecast period with a minimum of six degrees - four below average - and a maximum of 16.

At this time of year Warwick can generally be expected to be a little cooler with the average minimum for May sitting at 6.8 degrees and the average maximum at 21.3.

Temps in that neck of the woods are expected to plummet to four degrees on Saturday with a chilly maximum of 17.

Around Ipswich and Brisbane it's expected that we'll witness the lowest temperatures for this time of year since 2015.

That region is set for an icy minimum of five degrees on Saturday.

In Gympie, where the average May minimum is 10.8 degrees and the maximum 24.5 residents can expect it temperatures to plummet to just seven degrees on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

The lowest maximum temperature of the cold-spell will again be Saturday when it will limp its way up to a comfortable 22 degrees.

In Maryborough the average May minimum is 13.1 degrees with the maximum 24.7.

And residents on the Fraser Coast are facing the coldest day of the year so far with temperatures set to plummet to nine degrees on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Again the lowest maximum will be on Saturday where it's expected temperatures will reach 23 degrees.

In Gladstone the average minimum is 15.6 degrees and the maximum 25.7.

Sunday and Monday are expected to see the two coldest minimums there with temperatures reaching a chilly low of just 10 degrees.

Meanwhile Saturday is forecast to deliver the lowest maximum of 25 degrees and indeed maximums in that part of the world are not too far from the monthly average during the forecast period.

And in Rockhampton where the average May minimum is 14.3 degrees and the maximum 26, Sunday is expected to bring a shuddering nine degree low with temperatures only reaching 25 on Saturday.

Like Gladstone several days over the next week will have above average maximum temperatures.